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Go Into All the World Text:
Mark 16:14-20 For forty days after his resurrection our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples a total of at least eleven times recorded for us in the New Testament. He appeared and disappeared, appeared and disappeared to teach us that he is with us whether or not we can see him. On this, the fortieth day of Easter, our Lord appeared to his disciples one last time. This time, however, he didn't just disappear. He bodily ascended upwards into the sky until a cloud hid him from their sight. This action meant that he would no longer be appearing to his disciples in visible, bodily form because we no longer need him to do that. We have their eyewitness testimony and the Holy Spirit by Whom Christ lives in each of his disciples. We have heard the account of his ascension this year from both St. Luke and St. Mark. Tonight I would like to draw your attention to just two details of the significance of the Ascension of Our Lord for us and for all Christians. First that the Ascension is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesy from Psalm 68:18 where David writes, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train.” Second is the commission of Our Lord, as St. Mark has it, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation,” with the promise, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
When David wrote, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train,” he prophesied how the coming Christ would establish a new and everlasting kingdom. As Jesus said before Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Likewise we are told that those who belong to Christ's kingdom, while we are “in” the world are not to be “of” the world, that is, our citizenship is in heaven and we are but strangers, aliens and sojourners here as we wend our way through a world still lying and dying in spiritual darkness. Our hope, however, is because of that phrase, he “led captives” in his train. Who or what are the “captives”? The “captives” are none other than sin, death and Satan. The King James Version translates the phrase, “thou hast led captivity captive.” Sin, death and Satan are our greatest enemies. Sin holds us captive. Death holds us captive. Satan holds us captive meaning we cannot free ourselves. But this is why Christ came, to take hold of death by the throat, to take away our sin, to snare, bind and bar Satan from accusing us before the throne of God. He did this by his holy life and his suffering and death on the cross. That Christ is risen means that now even these, sin, death and Satan, are subject to his rule. Christ ascended on high and rules at the right hand of the Father in majesty in order to set free and release those who were slaves of sin, captives to death, that we may be truly free and liberated from sin, from death and from Satan.
This means that, though sin still so easily besets us, in Christ we no longer are doomed to sin but are enabled to live holy lives in the forgiveness of our sins. It means though the last enemy, death, still claims our bodies outwardly, we have the promise of the resurrection, new bodies for old, eternal life the way God originally intended us to be. It means though Satan still madly wars and attempts to take down as many with him to his final demise as he can, by means of the mighty Word and deliverance of Christ our King he can no longer overpower us.
The second meaning of Christ's Ascension is in the command, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” This is the way St. Mark has it. Matthew tells of the purpose and method, “making disciples” by means of “baptizing and teaching.” St. Luke says a little more about how we are to do this, namely, witnessing or testifying by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mark says only, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
The Christian Church is to “go” to the world, because the world will not come to her. The Church continues the earthly ministry of Christ, preaching, teaching and healing, seeking the lost. Salvation comes to a person in no other way than through the Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Proclaim the gospel,” says Jesus, the good news of liberation from sin, death and Satan by faith in Christ alone. For all the changes and differences from generation to generation, of tribes and ethnic backgrounds, of philosophies and world views, in times of war and times of relative peace, in all the estimated 6,912 known languages of the world (ethnologue.com), each and every Christian is here called by Christ to speak up, to announce or herald, to put into words, to converse with everyone about the deliverance from sin, death and Satan that is by faith in Jesus Christ.
This is the work we call “evangelism.” “Evangel” literally means “the Good News” of Christ. “Evangel ism ” means the myriad of ways the Good News is brought to people. We need to talk more about this work and task here at St. Mark's. For now, however, we are to know that evangelism is part of the reason we exist as Christ's people and that Jesus continues to seek and save the lost through the Word of the Gospel proclaimed through our mouths. As we say in the Augsburg Confession: Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight.
That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given, who works faith, where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake. [AC IV and V] Tonight we praise and thank God for the victory of Christ over sin, death and Satan for the life of the world, and we hear again the command to make this victory known to everyone. “May the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” [Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)]. ____________________
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